Sharing A Farm
by Dreamstar13
Summary: M/FoMT Crossover. Claire decides she wants to escape the boring city life and try something new. Jack can't contact his old friend who used to own a farm in Mineral Town. When they meet, will they clash? Or, learn to get along? Rated T, for now. Ch 4 up!
1. Chapter 1

Shadowed figure 1: -looks left and right- Okay, coast is clear.

Shadowed figure 2: Why are we back here? You haven't worked on-

Shadowed figure 1: SHH! We'll get cau-

-sirens start to sound, light hits on two figures-

Sakura: OW! Turn off the lights! Saki! Do something!

Saki: Hey! When did you change my name? It was Kaori last time I checked!

Sakura: Who cares? We've been caught!

Saki: -sighs- It's your own fault. Not working on a new chapter for your other stories for...how long has it been?

Sakura: Can't say I remember anymore. Anyways, to those who still read my stories such as New Student: Higurashi Kagome...I'M REALLY SORRY! I haven't had any ideas for the stories at all.

Saki: Yeah, she started writing other ones and can't get any ideas for that one.

Sakura: I've started a lot more stories, some I still work on when I have spare time, and some I stopped after a few chapters, but I don't want to just leave them to rot in my computer, so I decided to start posting some. They're not Inuyasha stories, but I know that there are people who enjoy more than just Inuyasha (though, I must agree, I love Inuyasha to death! x.x)

Saki: So, without further ado. Here's her first story on that is NOT an Inuyasha fic.

Sakura: It's Harvest Moon!

Sakura and Saki: Please enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon. I just own the plot of this story and this computer with stories waiting to be posted!

* * *

Chapter 1

A New Life

Walking around my empty apartment after a long day of work in the city, I sighed to myself, wondering if I could ever bring some more excitement into my life. I was single, nearly broke, and lived in a smelly apartment. All of the friends I had when I was younger were all living successfully and had left me behind. I didn't really mind, except it was a bit lonely.

I decided to look through some magazines as I had already eaten dinner and was not feeling up to sleeping yet. I flipped through one out of boredom, not really paying attention to the colorful pages. One page, however, caught my eye and I stopped to look over it. It seemed to be an ad for a farm. I looked over the picture, amazed by how beautiful it was. My mind began to wander into the world of farming. I saw myself brushing a cow and riding a horse. I was playing with a cute little dog and relaxing by a mountain.

All those scenes in my head made me feel the most excitement I've felt in a long time. I looked through the ad again, a phone number in one corner of the page. I took the magazine in hand and literally ran to my phone.

"Let's see… okay, it's ringing…Hello? Is this MT Realtor? I am calling about the farm you have in this ad?"

A voice came on the other line. From what I could tell, the person sounded like a young woman around my age, but who knows? I couldn't see her, and didn't need to. "Yes. The farm in Mineral Town, correct?"

I looked at the ad, noticing the big words "Mineral Town" above the pictures. Mineral Town…that name sounded very familiar. Really weird, but I might have just heard it on TV or something. Smiling, I answered, "Yes, the one in Mineral Town…"

I carried my luggage in hand as I walked out of my apartment building for the last time. I smiled, adrenaline rushing through me at the thought of something new out of my boring life. Finally, I'd be able to have some more excitement in my life, something new and interesting!

"Okay! Time to take the ferry to Mineral Town! No more city life! No more boring routines! No more stinky apartment! Time to smell the fresh air and live the life of a farmer!" I said to myself as I walked towards the pier that happened to be not too far from the apartment I used to live in. Ah, how good it feels to think that.

I stepped onto the boat and was greeted by the captain of the ship.

"So, what do they call ya, little missy?" he asked.

I pushed a gold lock of my hair behind my ear before speaking. "My name is Claire,"

"Well, Claire, it seems like you are heading to Mineral Town. For a fresh start, am I right?"

"You hit the mark," I replied.

"Well, I better get to steering this ship and getting you to Mineral Town as soon as possible,"

I walked to the front of the boat, amazed at the ocean's beauty.

"Pretty, huh?" a voice said from behind me.

I was a bit surprised by the sudden voice behind me and turned around. I saw a guy around my age, wearing blue overalls over a white collared shirt. Around his neck, he wore a red bandana, and he wore black boots. He wore a blue cap on backwards with his brown locks sticking out from underneath it.

I smiled and nodded. "It is,"

"Quite relaxing, actually. The wide ocean around you and the salty air floating around. Most people get seasick from this, you know,"

"Weird. I don't see how you can. Everything feels so nice," I said, closing my eyes as a breeze came in. I opened my eyes and turned towards the boy. "I haven't introduced myself yet. My name is Claire,"

"Pleasure to meet you, Claire. I'm Jack," he replied and offered out a hand. I smiled as we shook hands.

"Why are you going to Mineral Town, Jack?" I asked.

Jack was quiet for a bit before speaking. "A friend of mine used to write to me all of the time, but he stopped about 6 months ago. I got really worried and decided to come to Mineral Town to see him,"

"He sounds like a good friend,"

Jack nodded. "He's really old now. I hope he's all right,"

"…" I stayed silent, still looking out at the waves. After a little bit, I noticed some land up ahead. "Hey! I think I see Mineral Town!"

"Yup, that's Mineral Town all right. It looks like it hasn't changed a bit," he said. The boat had soon docked, and I was separated from Jack by a crowd of men who were moving things off and on to the ship.

I walked off, fishing out a map of the town out of my rucksack. I followed it until I saw what looked like a huge farm past a poultry farm and a ranch. I walked onto it and immediately frowned.

What I had thought would be a paradise ended up being a wasteland. The field was covered in weeds, rocks, and branches. I didn't see any animals in sight except for a stray dog. I looked from the ad to the field and back. This couldn't be right? Where was this nice farm I had imagined myself being in?

A man in red soon walked over to me and laughed. "Ha ha ha! Looks like they got another one. You've been tricked! No one's been here for ages since the previous owner passed away. Oh man, it's been a while since someone has come to live on this land. HAHAHA!"

I was enraged by this man and taking out a hammer I had bought at a junk shop before coming here, I began my attempt to kill him with it. "Take that!"

"Ow! Hey! Cut it out! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! HAVE MERCY!"

After I had finally calmed down, I was able to tell the man, whom I found out was Mayor Thomas, about the situation I was in.

"I see…You quit your job and moved out of your apartment. What a dilemma you're in," he said. "Well, why don't you try to turn this place around? Make it better?"

I crossed my arms and nodded. "Okay. Why not? I'll give it a shot. It will surely take some time, but I'll have this farm a success in no time!"

"That's the spirit! I'll have to have you sign some of these papers then," Thomas said while pulling out a clip board.

I read through it carefully and after making sure everything was right, I signed the papers. "All done!"

"Welcome to Mineral Town, Claire," he said while putting the papers away.

"What is this!" a yell was heard. I turned towards it, surprised by who I found was the owner of the voice.

"Jack!"

* * *

Saki: You make your return...and stop at a cliff hanger.

Sakura: It keeps the audience on their seat, no? Anyways, I'll try to start updating and posting more. I'm in my senior year of high school now, so who knows how that'll go. I'll try to work on my other stories while posting the other ones I've been working on.

Saki: Thanks to all the loyal readers who stayed waiting. Sorry that it's a new story that came out though.

Sakura: And I hope everyone enjoys this story! New chapter I'll try to have out as soon as possible! Now...

Sakura and Saki: Please, review!


	2. Chapter 2

Saki: Wait...we're...here? You actually got another chapter done?

Sakura: I told you before, I've had these files for a while...just getting this dialogue sequence that no one really reads done and editing a bit before I upload them.

Saki: Not sure if anyone's interested in this story though.

Sakura: Well, if anyone does like it, then they can read it. I just wrote what I felt like writing.

Saki: Yeah, yeah. Anyway, what are we going to do for this segment? There's no reviews today.

Sakura: Why don't we just go to the disclaimer?

Saki: Eh? But that's boring!

Sakura: Too bad, just go!

Saki: Fine...

Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon. I just own the plot and all my HM games. Don't hurt me! D:

* * *

Chapter 2

It has been six months already, but still nothing in the mail. I grabbed my keys before heading out of my apartment to go get something to eat. I wrinkled my nose at the city air, still preferring the country side better. But, beggars can't be choosers. I walked around, trying to find somewhere to eat. This was going to be my last night here before I would set off for Mineral Town.

I walked into the diner, ordering a cup of coffee as I sat down on a stool. The owner smiled at me. I was a regular here after all.

"Still no sign of him?" he asked.

I shook my head. "Hasn't written to me in six months. You don't suppose something could have happened to him? He is old now,"

"Well, you ain't leavin' till tomorrow. Relax, and you'll find out what's going on tomorrow," the owner said. A young girl soon appeared and walked over to them.

"Hello Papa! Hello Jack! Wanna hear one last fortune before going tomorrow?" she asked.

I smiled and nodded. "Why not? You are a tarot card reader. Let's see you work your magic,"

The girl smiled and placed a deck of cards on the bar. She rearranged the cards and flipped some over. "Hm…a big change will happen in your future, and what's this? Oo! Jack, you're going to meet the one you're destined to be with!"

"Meet, huh? Might be her," I said as I brought my coffee cup to my mouth.

"Her, Jack?" the owner asked.

"A girl I knew a long time ago. Can't remember her face anymore though, or her name,"

"She might be the girl you're looking for Jack! After all, you're 21 now, and not getting any younger," the girl said.

I looked at her with a frown. "Is that supposed to be a compliment?"

"It means, go get yourself a girl!" she said.

"Okay, okay. Sheesh, I don't know whether to take that as advice or an order. Well, I'll see what I can do about that one," I said before patting her head and walking out of the diner, making sure I had paid before leaving.

* * *

It took me about an hour before I could finally leave my apartment. My parents decided to pay me a visit before I left, and my mother wouldn't let me leave until I picked up everything I had basically except my furniture. I instructed my parents that I might have to stay over at Mineral Town for a while and to just end my lease. If I were to come back, I could always find another apartment.

I walked toward the docks, breathing in the fresh scent of the sea. It had been a while since I was on a boat. I greeted the captain of the ship before walking out onto deck. After about an hour out at sea, I noticed a blonde girl looking out into the ocean. She wore blue overalls and a white long sleeve shirt underneath. She had white gloves on and brown boots. She seemed rather intrigued by the vast ocean around us. Smiling, I walked over to her.

"Pretty, huh?" I asked. She seemed a bit startled by my presence. I inwardly chuckled at this.

She smiled and nodded. "It is,"

"Quite relaxing, actually. The wide ocean around you, the salty air floating around, most people get seasick from this, you know,"

"Weird. I don't see how you can. Everything feels so nice," she replied. A breeze came in, pushing her gold hair back behind her. I had to admit, she was cute. "I haven't introduced myself yet. My name is Claire,"

"Pleasure to meet you, Claire. I'm Jack," I replied, sticking a hand out. She took my hand in a firm shake with a smile. I smiled back.

"Why are you going to Mineral Town, Jack?" she asked. I wondered if I should tell her, and seeing as she was a nice enough girl, I decided to explain my situation.

"A friend of mine used to write to me all of the time, but he stopped about 6 months ago. I got really worried and decided to come to Mineral Town to see him,"

"He sounds like a good friend,"

I nodded. "He's really old now. I hope he's all right,"

My mind drifted off into the memories I had with that old man. He was very nice to me after all. Almost like a grandfather to me. I noticed at how silent Claire was and didn't say anything. I didn't think there would be anything else to say after hearing something like that. A little bit of time had passed before she spoke up.

"Hey! I think I see Mineral Town!"

I looked over with a smile. "Yup, that's Mineral Town all right. It looks like it hasn't changed a bit,"

We had been separated once we arrived. I wondered if she would be staying at Doug's Inn as it was the only possible place in town she could be staying…unless she had a friend to stay with, of course. I walked over to the inn to make sure I would have a room in case I would have to stay any longer than I thought I would have to stay.

"Ah, you must be Jack! You called?" a man I assumed was Doug greeted me as I walked in.

"Yes. That would be me," I replied.

"You said that if you needed to, you would need a room. There is always a room open upstairs in case you need it," Doug said with a smile.

"Thank you," I said. "I must be going now,"

I walked down the semi-familiar paths. I wondered if I really did remember my way around. I noticed a poultry farm and a ranch as I walked. I knew for sure I was close by, and continued walking down the path.

I noticed two people up ahead who appeared to be the mayor and…Claire! What was she doing here? I took a good look around, noticing that the farm was in shambles!

"What is this!" I yelled without thinking. They both jumped and turned towards me.

"Jack!" Apparently, Claire was not expecting me to be here at all. I walked over to them, wondering what in the world was going on.

"Excuse me, Mayor Thomas, I presume. I'm looking for the owner of this farm,"

"Actually, as of now, she's the owner of this farm," the mayor said.

I was angry. "Where is the original owner? Why is the farm in ruins?"

The mayor frowned at me. "Who are you?"

"I was a friend of the original owner of this farm. I had been in contact with him for many years just until about 6 months ago!"

Claire seemed to be in shock as I was letting my rage out at the mayor. She was completely silent as I ranted.

"I'm sorry. The original owner died 6 months ago,"

I felt myself go numb. I fell to my knees. No, this couldn't be. How could he die? That kind old man. Dead?

"Jack…"

"Did…did he leave anything for me?"

The mayor shook his head. "I haven't seen anything from when I looked through the house,"

"You're sure? The old man liked to hide things. Maybe it was hidden somewhere,"

Claire nodded. "I'll go look!"

I followed her as she ran into the house. She began to search through every little area in the house, trying to find a note or something.

* * *

It has been several hours since the search started. We couldn't find anything. We searched the barn, the chicken coop, the horse stable, but they were all empty.

"He didn't leave behind…anything?" I asked.

Claire stood by me, not knowing what to say. She walked over to the stray puppy, petting it before picking it up. "Can you help us look for something? A note that the previous owner could have left?"

I laughed bitterly. "What will that pup be able to find?"

Claire glared at me. "I don't know! But, it's been here for a while. Maybe it knows something! I'm just trying to help,"

"Good luck with that. The pup will probably-" before I could finish, the puppy jumped out of her arms and growled at me before running to the dog house. "See, its just going into that little house,"

Several minutes later, it came back out. In its mouth was a bottle. Claire walked over to the puppy with a smile.

"Inu-kun, may I see that?" Inu-kun? She was naming the dog, "Dog"? What a strange girl.

The puppy, however, barked happily and gave her the bottle. She opened it and took out a few slips of paper.

"What are those things?" I asked.

"They look like documents…it's a will!" she exclaimed. I immediately jumped and ran over, looking over the will.

"It says…that…this farm…belongs to me!" I nearly yelled.

She looked over at me. "But how can that work out? I already bought the farm,"

"But, the previous owner gave me the farm!"

"But, I bought it with the only money I have left!"

We went at it back and forth for a while before the mayor stopped us.

"Enough! Both of you have the right to this farm. Why not share it until you can think of a better solution? I bet if one of you alone can make this farm great, then the both of you together can make a miracle out of this farm,"

"Are you insane! How's that going to work out! There's only one house and it only has enough furniture for one person!" I said.

"Then, you'll just have to buy more furniture. There's a couch I don't need anymore if you need that. I understand there's only one bed, and you both probably won't want to sleep in that together. Well, looks like I'll need Jack to sign some papers too. Why don't you both decide a name for the farm while I go get the papers,"

Thomas left us in annoyance. I don't think sharing a farm with a girl was what I had in mind when coming here.

Claire sighed before turning to me. "Look, I know this isn't what you thought would happen today, but why don't we just turn in for the night and think about all of this tomorrow,"

I sighed and agreed. "Doesn't look like anything will change if we argue,"

After signing the documents Thomas had brought along with obtaining a free couch from Thomas, we had to plan what we were going to do. We looked over the farm, both of us agreeing on Mystic Farm (as its original name was Misty, which I liked but Claire wanted the name to have a more magical feel…she still lives in fantasies I guess…).

"The field is a mess, so we might as well attempt to clean that first," I said. Claire nodded, and I took a look around the house. It was a pretty sad house. There was only one room with a TV, book case, one bed, one couch, and one table. Not even a kitchen. I wonder how the old man survived for so long.

"Well, we might as well get our rest. It's been a long day," she said.

"You're right. You sleep in the bed, I'll take the couch," I said as I grabbed a blanket and a pillow from the only closet there.

"You sure? Cause, I can always sleep on the couch. It's no big deal to me," Claire said. I looked at her.

"It's all right. You sleep in the bed. I'm perfectly fine right here," I said as I laid down on the couch. "Could you turn off the light?"

"Okay," Claire mumbled before turning off the light and climbing into bed herself.

* * *

Saki: Is there any action in this story? At all?

Sakura: It's a Harvest Moon story. Haven't you played the game before?

Saki: The Rune Factory one?

Sakura: ...Nevermind. Anyways...

Sakura and Saki: Please, REVIEW!


	3. Chapter 3

Sakura: Zzz...

Saki: -pokes Sakura- Yo, wake up.

Sakura: What do...you...want...zzz...

Saki: -points to story- Post it!

Sakura: I'm tired...

Saki: DO IT!

Sakura: Fine! Geez. Anyways, sorry about the late update to my few readers out there. I've been extremely busy as of late.

Saki: And soon to be busier...

Sakura: Don't remind me. Anyways, here's a quick update. Hope you all enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon. I just own my plot.

* * *

Chapter 3

(Claire's POV)

I woke up to the light hitting my face. I wondered who had left the curtains opened and sat up, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. I realized that this wasn't my apartment and giggled quietly. That's right; I was living in Mineral Town now. And, I had a roommate.

I looked over at the couch. Jack was still there, sleeping. I looked at my watch seeing as there was no clock in the house…err…maybe shack was a better word for it. It was only a one room building after all. Guess we would need to upgrade it later.

6:00 AM. Better get out of bed and see what needs to be done first. I got out of bed, looking over at Jack. He had a little bit of drool coming out of his mouth. I held back a second giggle.

I walked outside, rucksack in hand, and breathed in the fresh air. It was so much cleaner here than in the city. I glanced over at the field and grimaced. That was going to be hard to clean up. I sighed, walking over and started pulling the weeds out one by one. This was going to take a while.

...

(Jack's POV)

I heard a lot of noise and sighed. Great, my new roommate liked to make noise when she got up. I sat up and attempted to get rid of the sores in my back. This couch was more painful than I thought. I wondered how much a new bed would cost, but once I took a look around the room, I stopped thinking, knowing there was no room for another bed.

I stood up, stretching as I picked up my cap and placed it on my head. Slinging my rucksack over my shoulder, I wondered what Claire was doing. I stepped out of the house and spotted her in the field. She was crouched down and looked to be pulling out some weeds. I walked over.

"Having fun?" I asked. She turned to look at me, some dirt on her face and her gloves were covered in dirt. She laughed.

"Actually, yeah, I am. Who knew pulling weeds would be fun?" she asked, standing up and looking at all the weeds she pulled out. "What time is it?"

"Let's see…almost 8," I answered.

"Okay. I chopped a bunch of wood and pulled out most of the weeds. I'm saving the small stones though, they could be useful," she said.

I cocked an eyebrow at her. "And how would that be useful?"

"Trust me. They'll be useful," she answered confidently. "I can feel it in my gut,"

"Okay, whatever you say. I won't smash your rocks," I said, tugging on some nearby weeds quickly and efficiently. In only 20 minutes, we cleared the rest of the field of branches and weeds. There were still large stones and stumps that we couldn't smash or chop down. I looked down at our tools. "We'll have to upgrade our tools later. Meaning, we'll probably have to go mining,"

"Mining? That sounds like fun," Claire said with a smile. I looked over at her. Did the city life really bore her _**that**_ much? "Um…shouldn't we meet with the town's people first?"

"We have work to do though," I replied.

She crossed her arms. "We should at least introduce ourselves to the people who would be buying our farm products,"

I noticed a hint of anger in her voice and sighed. "Fine, we'll go,"

She smiled again before dragging me towards town. "Let's see…it looks like we're meeting the blacksmith first,"

We walked into the blacksmith's shop. I noticed someone in the back working on some tool. The clinking of the hammer hitting the metal hurt my ears actually. Claire walked over to the old man at the desk with a smile. "Hello, my name is Claire. And this is Jack. We are the new farmers over there,"

The old man nodded, but didn't smile. "Nice to meet you. My name is Saibara. I own this blacksmith here,"

I could hear an "ow" coming from the boy in the back. Saibara turned around, angered. "Do the task right! If you don't do it right, how are you going to learn? Now look boy! You got me yelling in front of guests! Now, come over here and greet them!"

The boy mumbled something before walking over. He had some soot on his face, probably from working. "Name's Gray,"

"Hello Gray! My name is Claire!" she said. Did this girl ever lose any energy? I pulled my hat down a bit.

"Name's Jack," I said. The boy, Gray, nodded.

"I'll get back to work," he mumbled before going back. Saibara stared at the boy for a bit before turning back to us.

"Sorry, my grandson is still learning the ways of Blacksmithing. Well, if you need to upgrade your tools, feel free to come here,"

"Thanks! We will!" Claire said with a smile. She grabbed my hand and began dragging me out to the next house.

...

So far, we've met the family owners of the poultry farm, Lillia, Rick, and Popuri, the family of the animal ranch, Barley and May, the couple at the Winery, Manna and Duke, the family at the Inn, Doug and Ann, the family next door to the library, Basil, Anna, and Mary, Stu and Ellen, and Thomas and Harris. We even met the family at the Supermarket, Jeff, Sasha, and Karen. We got a free bag of Turnip seeds from this, lucky for us as we didn't have much money to start out this farming life with. Claire is still full of energy, and it's not even noon yet. I was actually starting to feel dizzy a bit.

"You okay, you don't look so good," she said.

I tried to shake it off, but it wouldn't go away. "Not sure why, but I feel really hot," I mumbled.

She put her cool hand against my forehead. "You're burning up! Um…I think there's a clinic over there. You can make it to there, right?"

I nodded as she walked me over to the clinic. It was really white when we entered.

"Yes, can I help you?" a voice from the back of the counter asked. I looked up, still feeling dizzy. The girl looked vaguely familiar at the counter.

"He needs a doctor right away! He just started burning up!" I could hear Claire say beside me. I could hear a lot of worry from her voice. We only met yesterday, but she is that worried about me?

"I'm sorry! The doctor just left on a house call. But, I can check to see what's wrong. Come this way," we followed her over to some beds, and I was told to sit down on one. After a few minutes, the girl smiled. "It's all right. You're the new farmers, right? That means you just arrived here by boat. You must have gotten a little sick. It's really cold out at sea. I hope you didn't do any strenuous work this morning,"

"Just a bit of clearing the fields," I mumbled.

The girl nodded. "Yes, you're sick. You need a little bit of rest. I'll give you some medicine and you can rest for a bit here. The doctor will be back shortly. I think it would be best for him to examine you before you leave to make sure you're all right,"

She smiled again, and I felt my head heat up a bit more. She walked away to get the medicine and Claire looked over at me.

"Whoa! You're a little redder! Either you're getting sicker, or…" she slyly grinned, "someone has a crush on another somebody,"

I shook my head. "I've only just met the girl! How can anything like that happen?"

She wagged a finger at me. "Tsk, tsk. I was once a matchmaker in high school. To which each couple I helped is now successful in life and still in a happy and healthy relationship with their match. I can tell these things,"

"Oh, and I suppose you have lots of experience with boys,"

"Nope, just the opposite. However, because of that, I pay attention more to how guys and girls are. I can tell when a person likes someone, and you definitely like the nurse," she said.

"Yeah right. Now, let me sleep," I said while lying down into the bed.

"At least wait till you drink some medicine!"

...

(Claire's POV)

With this, life was definitely going to be more interesting! I haven't played matchmaker in a long time, so I wonder if I lost my touch. This was going to be a lot of fun! First, for Jack and the nurse to get to know each other and see if they could be compatible with one another. But one things for certain, I know I'll be great friends with her.

The nurse walked back in to see Jack sleeping in the bed already. "Oh, he was supposed to drink some medicine before sleeping. I'll leave it here just in case he needs it," she said putting it down.

"Thanks for helping us out. My name is Claire by the way," I said with a smile. She smiled back.

"Nice to meet you Claire, I'm Elli. I don't know why, but I have this feeling we'll be great friends,"

"Same here!"

"So, why have you come to Mineral Town anyway?"

"Well, it all started with…"

"Oh, I see. So you bought the farm, but Jack supposedly inherited it. And because you had no where else to go, it was decided that you would both share the farm," Elli said.

"Yup! I wasn't expecting to have a roommate much less a guy for a roommate when moving here. But, it's okay. This just makes life more interesting," she said.

"That does sound a lot better than living alone,"

It had taken me about a half hour to explain the whole situation to Elli. Jack looked a bit better now, but he was still asleep. It was 12:30 now, and I was getting a bit hungry. I heard a yawn near me and turned to find Jack waking up.

"Had a nice nap?" I asked. Jack nodded.

"I feel a bit better now," he said.

Elli smiled. "Hello Jack, my name is Elli. Pleased to meet you,"

"Same. Thanks for helping me out," he said.

"You're welcome,"

I smiled at the two. They get along so well. I felt that these two really did belong together, so I wanted to support their relationship and maybe give them a little push together.

...

(Jack's POV)

We left the clinic after I felt better and headed off to the next place, the church next door. On our way, we saw the shipping guy, Zack, and the construction guy, Gotz. The church was very big and really quiet. We walked over to the front of the church to find the priest.

"Hello. You must both be the new farmers. I heard you were in some sort of predicament. Well, I'm glad you were able to settle the problem smoothly," he said. "The Harvest Goddess is truly watching over both of you,"

Claire just smiled and nodded. "Thank you. My name is Claire, and his is Jack,"

"Nice to meet you, Claire and Jack. My name is Carter and if you hadn't already noticed, I'm the priest here at this church. Would you like to hear one of my sermons? It can be quite lengthy,"

Claire's eyes widened before she shook her head, replacing her shocked look with a smile. I chuckled at her actions, earning a glare from her to me. "It's all right. We only stopped by to say hi,"

"Oh, well, could you both do me a favor?" We nodded our heads in response. "You see, there's that young man sitting in the pew over there. He doesn't have many friends, nor does he talk much. I was wondering if you could talk to him and get to know him. I can tell he is a lost soul and with a little help, he can discover what he wants to do with his life,"

Claire nodded. I wondered what caused her to want to help a stranger all of a sudden. "Okay, we'll be glad to help,"

I also wondered why she was involving me. We walked over to the boy who seemed to be looking down at the floor as if he was interested in it. He looked up and noticed we were both hovering over him. "Um…can I help you?"

"No, we just came over to say hi and introduce ourselves. Hi, my name is Claire, and this is Jack," she said. I merely lifted my hand up and did a small wave. "We are the new farmers here in town,"

The boy nodded. "I'm Cliff. I live at the Inn," he said.

Claire smiled. "This place sure is nice, isn't it? The church is really quiet. Good place to get away from everything to think,"

Cliff nodded. "Yeah. Sometimes, it's nice to just sit down somewhere quiet, but the Inn isn't exactly the quietest place,"

I noticed how these two got along really well. _"Well, well, looks like I found something to tease her about later. Ha, I'm acting like an older brother…in the non-overprotective way I guess,"_ he thought.

"Claire, we should get going. Farm's not gonna take care of itself, you know,"

Claire made a face. "I know, I know. Jeez, you're not my mother," she said crossing her arms. She smiled at Cliff and did a small wave. "It was nice meeting you. Let's talk again sometime,"

Claire and I walked out of the church and headed back to the farm. Oddly enough, we past by Anna, Sasha, and Manna who seemed to be gossiping…about us?

"Claire and Jack seem nice,"

"Do you think they're…"

"No way. Thomas already said…"

"…But, it's kinda weird that they would…"

"Maybe they…"

"…on the farm…"

Ugh! Could these women just finish their sentences? What exactly were they talking about? They noticed us right away and completely shut their traps. Claire just smiled and waved. Man, this girl was clueless.

"Hey Jack, is there anything to eat back at the farm?" Claire asked once we got out of Rose Square.

"No. We're broke, remember?"

Claire frowned, and I heard a stomach growl right afterwards. "I'm starving!"

Jack crossed his arms. "I'm sure we can forage for something in the wild. It is spring, so there might be bamboo shoots or some wild grasses you can eat,"

"That doesn't sound very appetizing…but okay," she sighed.

...

It was like this for about a week. We would eat whatever we could find out in the area, and we would take care of farm chores in the morning. There was a beehive on the farm, so we would put honey in the shipping bin to sell. Claire was kinda sad that she couldn't eat it, but I told her we needed the money from it. After we took care of the farm work, which was only pulling weeds and watering the crops, I would go chop wood while Claire mined in the mines. Ores from the mines could sell for a little bit and we needed the wood to expand the house. The couch was really killing my back.

After going through the mines and chopping all the wood I could find (which usually wasn't much), we would go into town and talk to people. Claire hung out a lot with Cliff and Carter at the church as well as May and Stu, although she sometimes hung out with Elli. I would usually talk to Elli, and the doctor would come in out of nowhere to tell me some health thing. Once he bored me enough to leave, I would hang out at the library where I see Gray and Mary. Gray doesn't seem to be as moody as I thought he would be after first meeting him, and Mary's stories were interesting to listen to. Once it got around 6, I would meet up with Claire in front of the winery and we would head back to the farm. That was our typical schedule. It gets pretty tiring sometimes.

Today, Claire did her share of the farm work and walked back into the house. I followed her, wondering what she could be doing. When I got in the house, she was counting the gold we had.

"Let's see…since we just harvested our first set of crops yesterday, we have…almost 5,000 gold. That could get us a house upgrade, and we could upgrade one of the tools we have. We should upgrade the ax first," she said turning towards me.

"Why?" I asked.

"Well, a house upgrade is 200 pieces of wood. The second upgrade is 700. We would need 900 pieces of wood in all. We don't even have 100 pieces of wood yet. If you chop down all the stumps in the field as well as the ones around Mineral Town, we may have enough for the first,"

I nodded. "Okay. But we need some copper to upgrade my ax,"

She smiled. "Already have that. We'll just have to wait for the blacksmith to open then. I wonder who will work on the tool though: Gray or Saibara?"

"Probably Gray, if Saibara gives him a chance,"

"Yeah,"

I looked at my ax. It was pretty rusted up. I guess the Old Man here didn't really think about upgrading these tools anytime soon. I glanced at Claire's tools, noticing they weren't in as bad of shape as mine, but they were still in pretty bad shape. I'm guessing she got her tools out of a junk shop.

Claire looked at her watch before handing me a couple ores of copper. "Here's also 1000 G. That should be enough for the upgrade. It should be ready by tomorrow. I'll go talk to Gotz about it later, once we have enough wood,"

"Okay. Wow, you're really good at planning things,"

Claire shrugged. "One of my old jobs was being a party planner. I guess it just became natural. Parties can be hectic to plan, oh, but weddings were the worst,"

"Hm…guess you would have to be really good at organizing things to plan a wedding," I replied, tucking the materials into my rucksack.

"Well, I'll catch ya at the inn later. I'm going to go fishing today," she said.

"Fishing? Since when did you have a rod?"

She pulled one out of her rucksack. "Since Zack was so kind enough to give me a fishing rod. It's not the best, but it's still in pretty good shape compared to my other tools. I'll see ya later!" she called before running out of the house towards the beach.

I smiled, shaking my head on how she acted. I looked at my watch and headed straight for Saibara's shop.

...

"Hey! Old man Saibara, Gray!" I called out. The two looked up from their work and greeted me…though, not in the most pleasant ways. Both had frowns on their faces. Geez, you would think somebody died here everyday.

"What is it, Jack?" Saibara asked in his gruff voice.

I walked over, placing the ore, gold, and my axe on the counter. "I was wondering if you could upgrade my axe. It's getting hard for Claire and me to live in such a small house, so I wanted to chop some more wood for an upgrade,"

"That's fine. But, I am leaving to Forget-Me-Not Valley to deliver some ores. I won't be back until tomorrow night,"

"Oh, well, then could Gray upgrade it for me?" I noticed he stiffened a bit in the back. I guess Saibara didn't let him do much besides working on the same thing and then their usual bickering (seriously, I could hear them from the farm!).

Saibara looked to be in deep thought. "Well, I don't know if Gray is ready for that. His work isn't cut out for-"

"I'll do it."

We were both surprised to hear Gray. Saibara cleared his throat before speaking. "Boy, you do know that you still haven't created anything that is even 3rd rate to a blacksmith. For a farmer, this needs to be a 1st rate job,"

Gray nodded. "I'll make sure of it. It will be first rate," he said.

I smiled. "I'm sure Gray can do it. He's been working very hard," I assured.

Saibara crossed his arms. "Very well then. If he messes up, I won't give you a refund,"

"Deal," I replied. I looked to Gray with a grin. "Good luck. How long will it take?"

"Since you're only upgrading it to copper, it will take one day,"

"Boy, one day would be if you were in expert!" Saibara yelled. I just nodded.

"Okay. I'll come back tomorrow,"

"No need. I'll just deliver it to you tomorrow after I'm done. Oh, can you tell Mary I'm not coming to the library today?"

"Of course. Well, see you, Saibara, Gray," I said before walking out. I had confidence in Gray. I just needed to give him a push in being able to work. Saibara was a little _**too**_ strict sometimes.

I stopped by the library, calling out to Mary to tell her that Gray wouldn't be coming that afternoon. She thanked me and asked if I would like some herbal tea before leaving. I turned down her offer nicely, more to save myself. Mary was a good cook and all, but when it came down to tea, Basil would always add some weird tasting herb (that was supposedly "good" for health) to it while Mary wasn't looking, so I decided to stay away from tea with Mary. I don't know how Mary could stand that stuff. Not even Gray would drink it. Maybe it was drinking that poison for so long…

I decided that since I couldn't chop wood for the day, I might as well go see Elli. Today was her day off, Wednesday, so I'd probably find her at the Supermarket right now. I walked over to the Supermarket.

Once I walked in, I saw a weak looking Jeff behind the counter. He didn't look like he could hold out watching the store for too long. Karen probably sensed it because as soon as I walked in, she rushed past me and helped Jeff to the back of the store to rest. She came back and took his place behind the counter. She smiled at me.

"Hey Jack! What's up?" she asked.

"I'm fine. How's Jeff?"

She sighed. "Looks like he was trying to overwork himself. He's lucky I was just walking back, or he could have fainted right here, right now,"

"I see…" I turned my head, noticing Elli looking at some of the produce.

Karen grinned. "Why don't you go over there and talk to Elli?" she said in a low voice.

I could feel a blush coming on. "Why don't you go and have fun with Rick?" I shot back.

"…You have one dirty mind…"

"What! What did you think I was thinking! I meant, go on a date with him! You're the one with the sick mind!" I hissed.

"Whatever, whatever. Geez, you're jumpier than my dad at times. I'll leave you alone with Elli. Just call me up if you need anything," she said before walking to the back of the store.

I walked over to where Elli was standing, and cleared my throat. She turned around.

"Oh, hi Jack! It's nice to see you. What brings you here?"

"Oh, I thought I'd just look around and see if I could buy anything to eat," I answered, though not entirely the truth, I was getting kinda hungry.

Elli nodded. "Oh I see. By the way, where's Claire?"

I wondered how an every conversation I had with Elli, she always brought up Claire. Maybe it's just because they were now best friends or something. "She decided to go fishing today. You'll probably see her later,"

"Or right now,"

I jumped at the new voice, noticing strands of blonde hair right behind me. "Claire! When did you get here?"

"Right when you said you were looking to buy something to eat. You're going to buy food without me!" she whined.

"Well, you're here now, if you need anything," I said.

Claire crossed her arms. "But, I thought we were saving up for a house upgrade so that we could afford to put another bed for you in the house,"

I scratched the back of my head. "Oh, yeah. I had forgotten. Guess I'll just go and forage for food later,"

Claire smiled and looked behind me to see Elli. "Hi Elli! How are you today?"

Elli smiled back. "I'm fine. I'm actually finished shopping here though. I'm going to head back to the Clinic now. See you both tomorrow!" she said as she paid Karen and left the Supermarket.

I sighed. "Great, just my luck,"

"Oh, I'm sorry. You wanted to talk to Elli. You weren't going to buy any food. I'm sorry," she said.

I shook my head. "It's all right. I'll just talk to her tomorrow. Do you need to go anywhere before heading home? I don't want to go back to the farm just yet,"

"I haven't gone to the Church yet. I wanted to see how Carter and Cliff are doing. Stu and May are probably not there today,"

I stared at her. "Hm…you spend a lot of time at the Church, huh?"

"Well, I never went to church back in the city. I guess the one here had something that caught my interest. Maybe it's the fact that it's nice there and not like in the city. Some of the people in the churches there were scary,"

I chuckled. "Well, let's head over there then,"

"Claire! And Jack too! What a pleasant surprise! Would you both like to hear my sermon? It can be quite long," Carter greeted.

"I'd love to, Carter! Your sermons are always very interesting!" Claire agreed to listen to the sermon, a completely different attitude than the one she had before. I noticed Cliff sitting by himself and walked over to sit next to him.

"Hey Cliff! How've you been?" I asked.

He looked a bit nervous. I guess he still wasn't used to me yet. "I've been okay, I guess. H-how's the farm been?"

"Things are going smoothly. If I can chop enough wood, I might be able to get off that stupid couch of Thomas's,"

"Oh, is that so…"

"So…how are you and Claire doing?" I asked, not really knowing what else to say.

Cliff's head tilted to the side. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know. How do you feel about Claire?"

"Well…uh…" his face suddenly flushed. Oh, I get it now.

"Oh, so, little Cliff's got a little crush, huh?"

"No…it's not…"

"Really? Who?" Claire had popped up right behind me. Cliff grew even redder.

"No one," he said while turning away and standing up. "It's late. I should be heading back to the Inn now,"

He walked swiftly out of the Church, the fastest I've ever seen him move. Claire looked on confused. "I wonder what's wrong with Cliff,"

I chuckled. "You may find out one day…"

As much as I was trying to tease him, I don't know, my chest started hurting…

* * *

Saki: Sounds like a wimp.

Sakura: He does not! He just...doesn't understand anything yet.

Saki: What kind of guy doesn't know that when your chest hurts it can be caused by angina or aortic dissection or even-

Sakura: Saki! Enough with the medical lesson! Now, ignoring her...

Both: Please review!


	4. Chapter 4

Sakura: -sigh- Man, this account is dusty...

Saki: That's why you should visit and update more often... you know, instead of waiting for over a year.

Sakura: I know, I know. Sorry everyone. I know I haven't updated ANYTHING in over a year. Just finished senior year of high school and now I'm in college. It got even busier for me.

Saki: Glad I don't have to deal with school...

Sakura: Quiet, you. Anyway, I'm not just a writer on fanfiction though. I'm a student in college, a video maker on Youtube, and a person who just needs time to work on things. It's been tiring for me lately and writing stories is difficult with lack of time and inspiration. I'm glad I had this chapter I wrote quiet a bit back. I've been editing it for a while, but I'm glad to finally update the story.

Saki: Okay, enough with the life story. Just let them read.

Sakura: Right...

Disclaimer: We do not own Harvest Moon; however, the plot (though relying a lot on events in the game) is from the mind of the ever so tired Dreamstar13. Please do enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 4

Knock! Knock! Jack sat up groggily on the couch, stretching before standing up. He walked over to the door, opening it slightly.

"Hello?" Jack asked, only seeing the blurred image of someone outside.

"Uh…Jack? You all right?"

Jack yawned again, rubbing his eyes. His eyes focused better and he noticed Gray standing in front of him. "Yeah, just woke up. What are you doing here, Gray?"

Gray held out a copper axe. "I told you I'd deliver this today. It's done. What do you think?"

Jack took the copper axe into his hands, looking it over. "Nice. Looks good,"

"Hey Jack? Who's at the door?" Jack and Gray looked to find Claire sitting up from the bed, rubbing her eyes. She slipped out of bed and walked over to them. "Oh, morning Gray. Is that your axe, Jack? It looks really good!"

"Um…thanks. Well, there's your tool. See you later," Gray mumbled before walking off. Claire smiled.

"Gray did this, right?" she asked.

"Yup. Saibara had to go to the valley for the day," Jack explained.

"He did really well. This is great! Now we can get rid of those stumps and maybe get that new house upgrade! All right! Well, after morning chores, I'll go get some more seeds! I think we forgot to get more yesterday, right?" Claire asked. Jack nodded.

"Why don't you go on ahead? There aren't that many weeds today. I'll just pull them out really quick before I get rid of those stumps,"

"Okay. Don't overwork yourself, okay?" Claire ordered. Jack rolled his eyes.

"Yes, Mom," he joked, swinging the ax up before walking out to the fields. Claire merely rolled her eyes before heading out to the Supermarket.

...

"Hey Jeff! Are you here?" Claire called while holding up a bag of Turnip seeds. She sighed. No answer. Great…

"Oh, hey Claire," Claire turned her head to the door. Karen stood there with Rick.

"Karen, Rick, it's nice to see you two. Karen, can you ring me up? I need to get back to the farm before Jack decides to kill himself with work,"

"Right. Okay, Turnip seeds would be 200 G," Karen said, walking over to the counter with Claire right behind her. Claire took the gold out of her pocket and handed it over to Karen.

"Thanks Karen! Tell Jeff I said hi!" she said before running out of the store. Rick looked over at Karen.

"She's really energetic," he said.

"And Jack is usually serious. I wonder how exactly they live with each other,"

...

"Jack! I'm back with the seeds!" Claire shouted as she ran over to the fields. Jack looked over from his work, smiling.

"That's good. Do you need any help planting them?" he asked.

"No. The ground is still okay from the last crop, so I can just reuse the area we set earlier to plant these new seeds. Why don't you take a break? You've almost gotten all the stumps out of the way," Claire suggested. Jack nodded, taking one last swing onto the stump he was working on splitting to finish it off. He put the ax down and picked up some of the lumber.

"I'll just put all of this in the shed then. After these seeds grow, we'll probably have enough for the first house upgrade," Jack said before heading over to the shed. Claire nodded before walking over to where their first crop had been planted and began planting the new seeds into the ground. She watered the area, smiling after finishing her work. Jack walked over to Claire, looking over at her work. "Looks like you're getting the hang of farming,"

"So are you," Claire pointed out as she brushed the dirt off her overalls. "Well, I think I'm going to go over to the Clinic and talk to Elli. Wanna come?"

Jack shook his head. "I think I'm just going to go to the library for a bit. I'll meet up with you later. You're going to be at the Church later, right?"

"Not unless Dr. Trent decides to make me try some of his homemade medicine. Elli told me some of his medicine…isn't really good," Claire said before waving and taking off to the Clinic.

...

"Hey Elli!" Claire exclaimed. Elli looked up from her work with a smile.

"Claire! It's nice to see you again!" Elli replied. "Jack decided not to come?"

Claire shook her head. "He said something about the library.

"Oh, okay. So, did you need anything, Claire?"

"Nah, just decided to come by and talk,"

"Oh Claire, you're here," Claire turned to the other voice and smiled.

"Hello, Dr. Trent. It's nice to see you today,"

The doctor came by with a bottle in his hand. Claire silently gulped.

He held the bottle up to Claire. "I was wondering if you would like to sample a new medicine I've been designing,"

"Doctor! You're not going to ask Claire to do such a thing!"

Trent looked at Elli, a bit puzzled. "What's wrong? I was just wondering if she could sample it for me. It's supposed to revitalize stamina and since Claire is a hard working farmer, I thought she'd be a perfect candidate to try it out,"

"Um…okay, I'll try it," Claire replied. Trent handed her the bottle, and she swished the contents of it inside. It sounded…odd to her. She tilted the bottle towards her mouth, allowing the cool liquid to go down her throat, barely touching her tongue. However, it could not be enough to avoid the terrible taste of the medicine.

"Okay, now it should be just about a min-" the doctor was cut off with Claire collapsing to the ground.

"CLAIRE!" was the last thing Claire heard before blacking out.

...

(Jack's POV)

I could hear Gray and Mary's voices downstairs, talking about Mary's novel. I had decided to leave the two of them alone for a bit and get to reading upstairs. There were some interesting books on farming on the second floor, so it was worth a good read.

I heard the slam of a door from my comfortable reading spot. Not many people come to the library so it surprised me when I heard the door. I could hear the excited voice of Stu, but could not make out a single word he was speaking. Footsteps soon came after it and Gray coming into my view at the top of the steps.

"Jack! It's Claire!"

...

"What happened?" I asked as I sat on one of the sofas of the clinic.

"Well, the doctor gave Claire some of the new medicine he made and…she fainted from it," Elli admitted. I sighed. That's why you never sample a doctor's work in progress…

"How long will she be out for?" I asked. Elli put a finger to her chin.

"The doctor said it was supposed to last around an hour, but I'm thankful that you rushed over here,"

"Well, Claire is my partner on the farm. I have to watch out for her,"

"It's nice to know that you both have each other's back when one of you is in need of help," Elli said with a smile, a blush I could feel now creeping over my face.

We heard coughing from behind the curtain and both walked over to Claire who was lying in the Clinic bed, her face slightly blue. Her eyes cracked open a bit before she looked over at Elli and me

"Oh, hey guys. How long was I out for?" she asked.

"Not long. But you look terrible," I teased.

"Gee, thanks," Claire laughed weakly. Trent had been checking his clipboard as soon as Claire woke up.

"I just don't understand how it could have done something like this…"

"Well, to be honest, it felt like the medicine zapped my energy more than replenished it," Claire offered, giving the doctor some feedback.

"Oh! I must have mistaken the Red Grass for Indigo! My apologies, Claire,"

'_Isn__'__t __Red__ Grass __poisonous?_' I thought.

"It's alright, Doctor. I'm sure you didn't mean to make that mistake," Claire replied.

"Just, try not to do it again. I don't want my partner with work to be sick for a long time and leave me with all the work," I joked.

Trent moved to a cabinet and grabbed a bottle, dropping a few tablets from it into his hand. He walked back, handing the tablets to Claire. Elli poured a cup of water for her to drink with them. "If you drink these, you should be feeling much better in no time,"

Claire smiled, taking the tablets and drinking them down with water. She was told to rest a little more and lied down. I had gone to the other room with Elli and Doctor where they decided to have a bit of tea while Doctor went on about the different types of grasses.

A yawn was heard an hour later and we turned to find Claire out of bed, looking a lot better.

"Feeling better?" I asked. Claire grinned.

"100%!"

"Alright. Well, it's getting late. Do you two need to go anywhere? You can stay for dinner, it's the least we could do," Elli offered.

"I'm sorry. I told Cliff I'd see him at the Church today. But, Jack has no plans. Why don't you stay?" Claire asked. Although the offer sounded nice, I shook my head. I didn't want to impose…nor did I want to hear any of Trent's lectures on health.

"I'm good. Wouldn't want to find Claire passed out on the street. I'll walk her to the Church and back to the farm,"

"Okay. Take care on your way home, you two!" Elli waved us off as Claire and I began out trek to the Church. After we were a bit away from the Clinic, Claire spoke up.

"You didn't want to join Elli for dinner?" she asked.

"Where did you get that idea in your mind that I like Elli?"

"I never said that, but since you said it," she grinned. I only sighed.

"How long are you planning on staying at the Church?"

"Just a bit. Hey, there's Cliff over there!" I turned to where Claire was pointing to see Cliff walking towards the Church, his hands buried in his pockets. When he noticed us, he gave us a weak smile and a wave, waiting for us at the entrance to the Church.

"Yo, Cliff. What's up?" I asked.

"Erm, I've been fine, I guess…" Cliff replied. I merely grinned.

"Wow, I've never heard you talk like that before, Jack," Claire pointed out.

"Eh, I talk in a lot of different ways depending on my mood. Guess it caught on with so many different people I've hung out with in my life,"

"Ah, so that's it," Claire marveled.

I nodded as we entered the Church. There, it seemed as though Carter was cleaning up the Church. He turned to us and greeted us with a smile.

"My, my. I didn't expect to have this many visitors,"

"Oh! I'm sorry Carter. I had forgotten about this,"

"Monday at exactly 4 PM. You arrived on time, but seemed to have your mind occupied on something else, right?" Carter asked, Cliff blushing a bit.

"I'm sorry. Did we come at a bad time?" Claire asked.

"No, not at all! You actually had perfect timing! Cliff and I were going to have dinner this evening. I was just cleaning up a bit. Would you care to join us?"

"If you have time, I think it'd be a lot of fun to have Jack and you here, Claire," Cliff said, a bright smile on his face.

"Though, I think Cliff would have much more fun if Carter and I weren't here," I teased, holding back a laugh at how red Cliff's face turned.

"I think it'd be a lot of fun for all of us to eat together," Claire replied. Come to think of it, Claire and I hadn't eaten a proper meal since we got here. Just foraging…so many…bamboo shoots…

"As long as there's no bamboo in the dishes," I quietly groaned.

"Eh? But bamboo's good for you, Jack. Don't tell me you'd just rather have meat?"

"Meat would be nice…haven't had any in ages…bamboo shoots…" I shuddered.

Claire only sighed. "Mou, if you wanted food, we could have added that to our budget and bought ingredients to eat,"

"Can't exactly cook without a kitchen…and before you say it, Inn's kind of expensive," I pointed out.

"Look, once we get a kitchen, you'll be able to enjoy meals, but for now, be a man and suck it up," Claire ordered. I pouted.

"Uh…guys?"

Claire and I turned to both Carter and Cliff. Claire was raising her hands and waving them back and forth crazily. "Sorry! Sorry! We didn't mean to start this when we're going to have dinner,"

Carter only laughed. "It's fine. It's nice to see people get along. Anyways, Ann will be delivering the food for us. Cliff, Claire, could you please finish the cleaning around here? Sorry, Jack, but could I borrow you in the Confessional?"

"Huh? Sure, no problem," I replied, following after Carter.

"What? Carter! You're going to make us clean the Church by ourselves?" I heard Cliff yell behind us, Carter chuckling as he closed the door.

This was the first time I had been in this room. It was dark, lit by very few lights. A wall was set up, a chair for Carter to sit on one side, and a place for a person to kneel at on the other. It looked kind of eerie in my opinion.

"Oh, what did you need me for, Carter?"

"Actually, I wanted Claire and Cliff to spend some time together. As you probably noticed, Cliff has become really close to Claire. She is the first to get him to break out of his shell…surprising that she was able to in the few weeks you two have been here,"

"Yeah. Claire has that air about her, doesn't she?"

"Tell me, what are your feelings for Claire?"

I looked to Carter, not understanding what he was getting at. "What? Claire's only a roommate and partner on the farm,"

"Do you think the two of you will be on that farm for the rest of your lives?"

"Well…I don't know. We both like the job…"

"If you two were to get a significant other, then what?"

"Well, I've never thought of that before…" Why was Carter asking all of these questions?

"I just want to know what's to come. Since, Cliff may be involved, and I do worry for him. He doesn't have anyone else to look to,"

"Wait…what do you mean?" I asked.

"It's not my place to say it. But, be sure to think about what I said. Rumor has it that you get along with the nurse, Elli, very well,"

"Yeah…wait…how do you know that?" I was surprised really.

"With three certain women in town, it's hard not to know anything," Carter chuckled.

This is one heck of a town I'm now living in…

...

(Normal POV)

"Okay, fine. You and Jack can go to the Confessional. I'll take care of it, no worries," Cliff huffed. Claire walked over to a nearby broom and picked it up.

"I'll help too! Two sets of hands are better than one," she said with a smile.

"Are you sure?" Cliff asked. Claire nodded and swept a little bit at the ground. "Thanks! Let's get to it!"

...

"Phew, all done…" Cliff sighed, plopping down on a chair. Claire was resting on the opposite side of the table.

"Wow…this Church was even bigger than I thought," she noted, wiping her head with a handkerchief.

"Good work you two!" Carter called out as he and Jack brought out some takeout boxes.

Jack grinned. "Ann just brought over some food. And I smell meat!"

"Ah! Luffy!" Claire shouted out. The three men stared at her for a bit. "What? Jack just reminded me of Luffy! It was bothering me since he was asking about meat earlier,"

"Luffy?" they asked.

"Monkey D. Luffy? From One Piece? It's on the Variety Channel,"

"…"

"It's an anime?"

"Oh!"

Claire sighed. "Boys just need to get with the times…"

"Says you," Jack mumbled before they all began to eat.

...

Claire sighed while rubbing her stomach. "That was yummy!"

"And had no taste of bamboo," Jack grinned. Carter smiled.

"I'm glad you two enjoyed. Though it is getting late, Ann had also brought some dessert over,"

"Really?" Claire's eyes began to glow. Jack chuckled.

"I'm guessing she's a sweets kind of girl," he teased. Claire didn't mind though.

"I haven't had anything sweet since I came here!"

Cliff sniffed at the air. "From what I smell, Ann made some chocolate and cheese cake, am I right?"

"Yes, she did," Carter replied, laying the cakes on the table.

"Wow! How did you do that, Cliff?" Claire asked. Cliff scratched the back of his head.

"I guess with living at the Inn, I recognize all the food Ann and Doug make,"

"It's nice and all that Cliff can tell what kind of cake it is by scent, but can we eat it now?" Jack asked. Everyone else laughed before digging in to the cake.

* * *

Sakura: Well, that's it. Hope it'll be good for everyone until I can get the next chapter done. Don't expect too many chapters any time soon... as I'm sure you've all already noticed.

Saki: Time for you to get back on that homework.

Sakura: NOOOOOOOOOOO! -runs away-

Saki: Please leave a review while I go make sure she gets her work done...


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